Off-site, volumetric construction set to solve the housing crisis

If the market is to come anywhere near providing the target of 300,000 homes per year, there must be a significant shift in the way we produce buildings.

In a new whitepaper, Ackroyd Lowrie, award winning Architectural Practice, set out how this challenge can be met through offsite, volumetric construction. This modern method of construction allows high quality, bespoke housing projects to be delivered 30-60% quicker by building them in factories. In this method, windows, kitchens and even brickwork can be pre-installed on a production line, meaning that there is significantly less time and labour required on site.

To ensure that these factory-made buildings arrive on site exactly as intended, Ackroyd Lowrie have pioneered a Virtual Reality sign off process. This allows the client to walk around different versions of their future home in the latest VR headset. They can make changes to the design long before the 3D model is sent to the factory for production.

Liz Peace CBE, Chair of the Old Oak and Park Development Corporation, one of London’s key regeneration bodies, said of the research:

“The house building industry is not renowned for being particularly innovative but in offsite, volumetric housing we are confronted with something that could…revolutionise the way we build homes and make a significant dent in the housing numbers we so desperately need. As an industry, we cannot let this opportunity pass us by. This is why we need the call to arms the Ackroyd Lowrie White Paper offers – to inspire, to inform and most all to make things happen.”

1. Complete construction in days, not months – Offsite construction can save a great deal of time on site, which leads to financial savings for the client. The method can offer 30-60% time saving over traditional methods.

2. Bespoke, high quality homes – Prefabricated homes gained a reputation for being repetitive and low quality due to those produced in the post-war period. However, modern factories can achieve bespoke designs using high quality materials

3. Fewer Defects – Because these homes are built in factory conditions, the quality and consistency of work can be higher

If the UK is to build 300,000 new homes each year, we simply can’t rely on government initiatives. Besides the obvious revenue opportunities for developers in the private rental space, there is the opportunity to really make an impact in an industry that is crying out for disruption.

Concluding the research, Oliver Lowrie said:

“If there was any political will to solve the housing crisis, it would be by building faster. Offsite construction is objectively the fastest way to build and results in properties with fewer defects. Innovations in the industry mean that developers can create completely bespoke solutions for sites of all sizes, for clients with virtually any preferences.”